Fan construction



` L. H. voN oHLsEN May l, 1934.

FAN CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 7, 1930 W7, MTZE:

ATTORN EYS Patented Muay l, i934 PATENT oFFlCE FAN CONSTRUCTION Louis H. Von Ohlsen, New Haven, Conn., assignor to The Safety Car Heating & Lighting Company, a corporation of New Jersey IApplication August 7, 1930, Serial No. 473,568

n 4 Claims.

This invention relates to Ventilating apparatus, and more particularly to fan construction. One of the objects of the invention-is to provide a construction of this nature which is practical and eiiicient in action. Another object is to provide a construction of the above-mentioned nature which is simple and compact. Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of the above-mentioned nature which is relatively inexpensive. Another object is to provide a construction which may be quickly assembled. Another object is to provide a construction of this nature which will operate smoothly and quietly. Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of this nature which practically eliminates the possibility of a breakdown. Other objects will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements,

and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which .will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying'drawing, in which is Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring first to Figure l, I have shown a frame 10, which preferably should be fastened to the ceiling of a building, vehicle, or other desired structure, as by means of suitable anges 12-12 and suitable bolts. The frame 10 supports an electric motor 13, to the shaft 14 of which is secured, in any suitable manner, a fan 15. This fan 15 is preferably adapted to create a downward current of air, assuming the apparatus is attached to the ceiling as already mentioned.

The frame 10 is provided with three outwardly and downwardly supporting arms 16, to the outer ends of which is secured'an annular frame or guard 17, surrounding the fan 15. Fastcned to the under side of the annular guard 1'7 is a threearmed spider 18 for the support of certain mechanism which is adapted to modify the air blast delivered by the fan 15.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the threearmed spider 18 serves for theA support and central positioning of a housing, which is generally indicated by the numeral 19, and which is preferably formed in two parts, a lower part 20 and an upper part 21, fastened together by screws 21a. The housing 19 is rigidly secured to the spider 18, as by means of a threaded stud 22 integrally formed with the lower part 20 of the housing 19, which stud passes through an aperture in the hub 18a, of the spider, a secure union being made by means of a nut 23. It will be noted that by this construction the blast of air from the fan 15 is unimpeded by parts of the apparatus either above or below the fan, because the three supporting legs 16 offer practically no obstruction to the air sucked into the fan, and the three arms of the spider 18 likewise offer practically no obstruction to the air stream delivered by the fan, while both the motor 13 and the housing 19, which supports mechanism that will hereinafter be described, are located in line with the hub portion of the fan 15 so as to afford little interference with the air blast, the housing 19, especially,

the ends of the vanes being suitably secured to the annulus 26, and some of them being secured to the annulus 25, thus to form a unitary structure. The deflector 24 is adapted to modify or divert the blast of air from the fan 15; as shown, the vanes on one side of a certain diameter of the annuli 25 and 26 are inclined in one direction, and those on the other side thereof are inclined in the opposite direction, in order vto produce two divergent columns of air.

In order to secure effective ventilation of a room or car, the columns of air produced by the apparatus are rotated substantially about the axis of the deflector 24 and fan 15. 'This is done by rotating the deflector itself, but since it is desirable to provide an air blast against every part of the room for an appreciable period of time, the deflector 24 should be rotated at a much slower speed than that of the fan l5. At the same time, since there is a continual pressure upon the defiectcr 24, due to the blast of air from the fan 15, it should be rmly supported, and as the pressure consists of intermittent pulsations, it should be so journalled as to prevent vibration or noise.

Referring now to the central portion of Figure 2, a disc-like member 29 is secured, as by means of screws 30, to theinner annulus 25. The

ymember 29 rests upon the top ofthe upper part reason of the wide bearing surface provided by these two parts, the defiector rotates very smoothly in spite of the pulsating :thrusts upon the deflector 24 already mentioned.

The deector 24 is driven'Y by that portion of the motor shaft 14 extending below the fan 15. I'he fan 15 and the deector 24 are mounted to Arotate substantially on the same axis, but the I drive is not direct, being through the medium of reduction gear mechanism contained wholly Within the housing 19, and thus wholly within the annular hub 25 of the deflector 24.

Considering now the driving arrangement for the defiector 24, and referring to Figure 2, the motor shaft 14 provides a portion 14a which extends below the fan 15 and which has in the end thereof a slot 32 adapted to receive the end of a spring 33. The other end of the spring 33 fits in a slot 34, provided in a shaft 35, which extends downwardly into the housing 19 and is journalled for rotation in said housing, as by means of a ball bearing 36 received in a hollow cylindrical portion 3'? of the housing 19. Thus the driving connection between the motor shaft 14 and the vertical shaft 35, as embodied in the spring 33, is resilient, and furthermore, by reason of the use of the spring 34, it is 'unnecessary to align the axis of the shaft 35 with that of the shaft 14 Vwith care, a substantial alignment being sufficient.

Still referring to Figure 2, I provide, justabove the bearing 36, a gearA 38, which is fastened to the shaft 35. The gear 38 thus rotates with the same angular velocity as that of the fan 15 because of the direct though resilient connection between them. This gear 38 meshes with a gear 39 which is rotatably mounted on a stud 40, carried by an arm 41, that in turn is rotatably mounted on the shaft 35. As is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, the gear 39 meshes with internal gear teeth 42, provided on the inner surface of the upper annular portion 21 of the housing 19 Thus the portion 21 of the housing 19, besides constituting a thrust bearing and a journal for the deflector 24, is part of the speed-reduction gearing, by means of which the deflector 24 is ldriven at reduced speed; the three gear elements just mentioned constituting an epicyclic gear train.

As is better shown in Figure 2, just above the arm 41, and fastened tol it, is a gear 43 which desirably is of the same size as the gear 38, but gear 43, as well as the arm 41, is freely rotatable abc-ut the shaft 35. Meshing with the gear 43 is will be remembered, is fastened to and supports the deflector 24. e 'e f The lgears 44 and 48, as well as the gear 39, mesh with the internal gear teeth 42 formed in the upper housing member 21, which, as is clear from the foregoing, is stationary. As the gear 39 rotates on its axis 40, but cannot move the housing member 2l, the stud 40 and arm 41 must rotateY and gear 39 must move orbitally around the shaft 35. VThe angular velocity of the arm 41 is considerably lower than that of the gear 38 and shaft 35; these parts may readily' be so proportioned asito cause the arm 41 to revolve at one-quarter of the speed of the shaft35k'*4 Similarly, from the fact that the'ge'ar 44" by reason of its engagement with the internal teeth 42 must move orbitally around the shaft 35, the arm'46 revolves at an angular Velocity much'less than that of the'arm 4l and the gear 43 that is fastened to it. Finally, the disc-like member 29, which carries the deflector 24, and to which is fastened the stud 49, is revolved at an angular velocity less than that of the arm 46. By reason of this construction, which is very compact, and in which a single member, namely the member 21 with the gear teeth 42, performs several different functions, the deflect-or 24 is driven at greatly reduced speed. Wide variations in the angular velocity of the deflector 24, and wide variations in the ratio of speed reduction may be readily effected by merely changing the diameters of the gears, or some of them, all without loss of the important feature of compactness which, as already mentioned, increases the eiiiciency of the Ventilating apparatus as a whole by reducing resistance to the air stream.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the defiector supporting disc member 29 desirably also constitutes a cover for the housing 19, having a central hole 51 therein which constitutes an upper journal for the shaft 35. The entire housing 19 is desirably filled with grease or oil, and to prevent the escape of the lubricant, a felt washer 52 surroundsthe shaft 35, being held in place by a metal washer 53, both of the washers being received in a cylindrical guard 54, which is suitably attached to the disc member 29, said guard 54 surrounding the spring 33 for the purpose of insuring that portions of the spring will not be thrown into the fan 15 or deflector 24 in case the spring should happen to break.

When the apparatus is in operation, the motor 13 rotates the fan 15 at an angular velocity 'great' enough to create a substantial draft of air in a downward direction. There is nothing that substantially impedes the intake of air into the mechanism since there is a large free space between the ceiling 11 and the blades of the fan 15, the motor 13 and arms 16 occupying a very small part of this space.

The downward blast of 'air is deflected from the vertical by means of the deiiector 24, which thus modifies the air stream, making it in effect a pair of slanting columns of air at any instant.

' These slanting columns of air are slowly rotated about the central vertical axis of the entire apparatus by a slow positive rotation of the deflector 24, yet the mounting at all times effectively resists the tendency of the pulsating air blast to cause cramping of the deflector 24.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is herein provided a construction which achieves the objects of this invention and accomplishes results of practical value. The construction is rugged, Simple and inexpensive, and is capable of operating efficiently with expenditure of a very small amount of power. The mechanism is compact and needs practically no attention, while at the same time the entire construction is neat` and finished in appearance.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth, or shown in the accompanying drawing, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

, I claim: y

1. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a fan, a deflect-or, a central shaft having its axis substantially coinciding with that of the fan and the deflector to drive the defiector, a

housing the outside of which forms a journal for said deector, said housing being stationary, and gearing connecting said shaft and said deflector, said gearing being included entirely within said housing.

2. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a defiector, a stationary cup-like housing the outside of which forms a journal for said deflector, a cover to said housing fastened to said defiector, said cover supporting the weight of said deflector on said housing, and gearing contained within said housing to drive said deflector.

3. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, a deector, a stationary cup-like housing the outside of which forms a journal for said deflector, a cover to said housing fastened to said deflector, said cover supporting the weight of said deflector on said housing, gear teeth on the inside of said housing, and epicyclic gearing meshing with said gear teeth to drive said deector.

4. In apparatus of the class described, in combination, an electric motor, a cylindrical member, a spider connecting said motor to said cylindrical member, a fan inside of said cylindrical member, a motor shaft mounting said fan the axis of which is the axis of the cylinder, a housing, a spider connecting said housing to the other side of said cylinder, a bearing located in said housing, a shaft mounted in said bearing the axis of which is substantially coincident with the axis of the motor shaft, a spring connecting said two shafts, a cylindrical journal on the outside of said housing the axis thereof being the same as the aforesaid axes, a deflector journaled in said cylindrical journal, a cap or cover to the housing attached to the deflector and having an orifice for the passage of the said shaft, a washer surrounding said shaft and preventing the escape of lubrication from said housing, internal teeth in the inside of said housing being coaxial with the aforesaid axes, a pin eccentrically located on said cover, a gear journaled on said pin meshing with the internal teeth, a gear mounted on said shaft meshing with said gear mounted on the pin, additional gears meshing with said internal teeth, and additional gears mounted on said shaft, one of said parts being secured to said shaft whereby to drive said defiector at reduced speed from said motor.

LOUIS H. VON OI-ILSEN. 

